Dart reading notes #3

ECORES 1

Vaughn, K.J., Porensky, L.M. Wilkerson, M.L., Balachowsk, J., Peffer,E., Riginos, C. Young, T.P. (2010) Restoration Ecology. Nature Education Knowledge 1(8):66

Goal: to initiate or speed the recovery. "Restoration activities may also be designed to reestablish natural disturbance regimes." Such as tree forests to adjust flash floods.

Concepts Underpinning Restoration (p3)

• Disturbances-- dealing with floods, fires, damages, treefalls, "even volcanic eruptions"-- alter specie composition. (Nutrient cylces, soil properties)
• Genetics - using local living elements to reestablish the target ecosystem. Duh, encouraging genetic diversity
• Succession: process by which biological "community composition- the number and proportion of different species in ecosystem- recover over time following a disturbance" Allowing nature to do her job without disturbance. Sometimes it is necessary to actively participate, in a case when the restoration needs to be "accelerated".

Time, seed collection, planting order all important to Create what they call Community Assembly Theory

• Habitat fragmentation: "when continuous areas of habitat become disconnected by natural or human causes (ex, building roads through a forest)." small isolated patches. support fewer species they say; consequently leading to a chances of imbreeding, extinction.
• Theory "assumes that the matrix is uniform and inhostibable. (the matrix is the region between habitat patches.)
• negative edge effects of one habitat next to another. Ex weeds are more abundant along forrest edges (their words)
• creating connectivity among the patches, they call them "linkages" (4) "corridors and stepping stones"
• linear strips of habitat
• stepstones are unconnected patches, that are close enough to each other that allow movement across landscape.

• Application
• assessing the site. causes are identified.
• formulating project goals. optional: visiting reference sites, consult historical
• sources for images and info about "pre-disturbed" community (4)
• remove sources of disturbance
• restore process/ disturbance cycles (sometimes by fixing the flow, the system will repair itself) (heal the blood, the body is more apt to work itself out)
• rehabilitate substrates (any activity aiming to repair "altered soil texture or chemistry) (another ex: repairing hydrological regimes, directions and functions) (5)
• restoring vegetation
• monitoring and maintenance

• Ecosystems most effected: wetlands, grasslands/rangelands, riparian areas, and tropical forests.

controversial topic: assisted migration
(I've wondered about this. Bringing species into an area that they never lived in, but where the climate (could be) suitable for the species in the future. Taking science and our power to control, to adjust the planet... adjusting it, help in healing her, if she wills us to.)
"One contentious issue is the process of mitigation, in which destruction of protected populations or habitats is allowed if there are offsetting mitigation plantings." (5) "Some fear" that these practices "provide for activities that are destructive of biodiversity."

SER1

Natural Capital and Ecological Restoration, An Occasional Paper of the SER Science and Policy Working Group (1) April 2004

ecological restoration "must be pursued with concomitant social, national, and financial dedication, and conducted with a robust ecological and biophysical underpinning."

"all human economies rely on natural goods and services that accrue from healthy, functional ecosystems" !!! (1)

the ecosystems represent "natural capital" (distinguished by health, rather than financial wealth)

Ecological economists estimated "annual worth of natural goods and services to exceed the gross world product (Costanza et al.1997)" (1)

about thes"their study demonstrates the benefits of natural capital to an economy or society are enormous" (1)

increase of natural capital is a "universal benefit" for ER

Natural Capital economies recognize the contribution of nature to the economy; some have used this term to privatize and market nature, as wells as trying to assign a monetary value on nature.

Neoclassical Economic Theory look at he products of human enterprise??

"only by augmenting natural capital can we achieve economic sustainability" (2)

(increasing!)

looking to "increase the inventory of healthy, self-sustainging ecosystems." (2)

"investment in ER of impaired ecosystems must proceed in conjunction with efforts to reduce or halt the conversion of natural areas" (3)

Government subsidies allow perverse, ill-advised developments and undermines the health of the home we live in.